Aims of Greek Politician Alexis Tsipras Remain a Mystery in Europe

Greek RouletteWhat Would Syriza's Victory Mean for Europe?

Greek Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has many observers across Europe scratching their heads. What does the head of the radical left party, who may become Greece's next prime minister, really want -the euro or the drachma?

AFP

Alexis Tsipras is the head of Greece's opposition Syriza party, which stands a good chance of winning snap elections on Jan. 25. "On Tuesdays the euro, on Fridays the drachma," his opponents have said sneeringly of his contradictory statements.

Greek political analyst Elias Nikolakopoulos is a man who doesn't shy away from strong opinions. He regularly provides astute commentary on the state of Greek politics. But when it comes to Alexis Tsipras, the pundit is sometimes at a loss for words.

Nikolakopoulos considers it "very likely" that Tsipras, together with his radical left-wing alliance Syriza, will win snap elections on Jan. 25. At the same time, he also believes Syriza is likely to maintain the European common currency. "We will stick with the euro, no doubt," he says. Yet he also warns against pressure and threats from Brussels or Berlin, which he argues would be counterproductive and at best serve to further unite the left wing in Greece.

Still, the veteran analyst is at a loss when it comes to questions about what Tsipras plans to do once elected or just how credible he truly is. "I can't answer that," Nikolakopoulos says, smiling a bit helplessly.

That's precisely what politicians and commentators in European capitals have been discussing in recent weeks -- at times anxious and at others baffled. What does 40-year-old Greek politician Tsipras really want? And in what direction will Tsipras -- a charismatic, youthful figure who even appears to have middle class voters under his spell -- take Greece if he succeeds in becoming the youngest leader in the history of the Hellenic Republic?

Contradictions Galore

The statements Tsipras has made publicly make it difficult to divine. Sometimes he says one thing, at others something entirely different. His contradictory positions are also a product of the fact that Syriza was only formed as a formal party year and a half ago, the product of an electoral alliance among highly diverse left-wing splinter groups.

"Our party as a whole wants to see the country in the euro," Tsipras has said, for example. But he qualified that statement by adding: "on the condition that social cohesion isn't threatened." On another occasion, he said the euro was "not a fetish" and that Greece was "nobody's hostage," whatever that might mean.

Panagiotis Lafazanis, the leader of the influential left-wing of the party, has been clearer in his statements. "We want to exit the euro and a complete break with the totalitarian EU," he announced.

Would Tsipras 'Tear Up' Agreements?

For his part, Tsipras has spoken of freeing "Europe from the straightjacket of debts" through a further radical debt haircut and a moratorium on debt repayments for euro-zone crisis countries. He is calling for a European debt conference like the one in London in 1953 that was called in order to address the debt problems of postwar Germany. But other comments have been less statesman-like. Such as Tsipras' promise that he would simply "tear up" existing agreements on austerity measures and loans and cease making interest payments overnight.

At times he describes his neighboring EU member states as partners, but then he turns around and says they are opponents, "like the USA and Russia during the Cold War." "If one presses the red button, then there are only losers."

On other occasions, Tsipras says he wants serious negotiations over the conditions for financial aid from Brussels only to turn around and announce without any ifs or buts that "the austerity program will be history within a few days." International markets, he says, "will have to dance to our tune."

Members of the current conservative government have joked that Tsipras' positions are indeed clear. "On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays he wants to stay in the euro zone, but on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we're back on the drachma, and on Sundays he wants a referendum," they say.

Concessions Likely

Even for election researcher Nikolakopoulos, a vote for Syriza is slightly reminiscent of "Russian roulette". Voters just don't know what they are getting. He says that was also true of the 1981 election, which saw the rise of Socialist Andreas Papandreou to power on a raft of lofty promises that ultimately went undelivered. Greece didn't leave NATO, for example. Instead it joined the European Economic Community. Nor did it kick US troops stationed in the country out of Greece. Nikolakopolous also believes that Syriza, the party of radical leftists, "will become better behaved by the hour once it gets closer to power."

Tsipras wants to spend around 13.5 billion ($16 billion) on domestic social reforms in the immediate future, with those expenditures being funded, directly or indirectly, by the EU. But Tsipras, too, will have to back away from some of his pledges if he wants to prevent the kind of snap elections that happened in the summer of 2012.

Even if he wins the election, he will still likely be forced to form a coalition government -- either with the new center-left To Potami (The River) party, the country's answer to Spain's upstart Podemos, which scored strong in the recent Spanish elections for the European parliament, or the right-wing populist Independent Greeks. Former Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, who wants to run as the head of his own left-wing party, could also siphon off key Syriza voters. Ultimately, compromises will have to be made.

Will Markets Tame Tsipras?

In addition, the aid programs for Greece from the EU and the International Monetary Fund expire at the end of February. Negotiations to form a coalition government will likely take longer than that. And in Brussels, high-level diplomats are hopeful that the economic and political reality will catch up to the leftist ideologues in Athens. Ultimately, one senior Brussels official believes, the markets will tame Tsipras.

In Brussels, most officials are viewing Tsipras' possible election calmly. "It seems to me an exaggeration that some are painting the devil on the wall," says Olli Rehn, the EU's former currency commissioner. "Syriza is a church with a very broad basis. It will be difficult to keep this alliance together," says the Finn, who is now a member of European Parliament.

But that's also the reason that concessions will be necessary in Brussels. Although Rehn believes the debt haircut Tsipras is demanding is avoidable, the former commissioner does believe "that we have to reduce the Greek debt burden but we can reach that goal by prolonging the maturity of loans."

He's also certain about one thing: "Any possible turbulence that Greece may create could not shake the euro zone like it did in 2010 and still in 2012. The decisive action by the European Central Bank and the financial firewall provided by the European Stability Mechanism (the permanent euro backstop fund) have effectively contained the contagion and can do so in the future as well. This will reduce Greece's bargaining power."

I don't believe that a Greek exit from the Euro would cause immediate catastrophic problems for the Euro zone. However, an exit followed by a recovery and above all a significant reduction in youth unemployment would make some [...]

I don't believe that a Greek exit from the Euro would cause immediate catastrophic problems for the Euro zone. However, an exit followed by a recovery and above all a significant reduction in youth unemployment would make some other countries within the EMU consider whether short term pain for an apparent long term gain is acceptable.

garabet 01/06/2015

2. greece

it is not a bad idea for Greece and Syriza to have all options open on the table.
The Euro should not be a non-negotiable parameter.
As things have turned out,we have not flourished inside the euro zone while Germany has [...]

it is not a bad idea for Greece and Syriza to have all options open on the table.
The Euro should not be a non-negotiable parameter.
As things have turned out,we have not flourished inside the euro zone while Germany has flourished in the past outside the euro,just like e.g. Switzerland flourishes outside the euro.
Therefore if we are able to build an effective,efficient and competitive public sector under Syriza, devoid of the clientele system and favoritism,then we will be able to thrive even with our Drachma currency,if we had to go with it, at the end of the day.
The stake should not be Euro or Drachma. It should be building an efficient public sector or staying with what we have with New Democracy and Pasok.And in essence that is what it is about.
Staying with the decadent old or venture in the new.
What a pity,this consideration has not crossed your astute commentator's mind!!!
There is one question though lingering in my mind.
Why does Europe care so much about the outcome of the Greek elections since, as many German officials say,Europe is fortified now with sufficient firewalls.
with so much misery and misfortune and unhappiness,with thousands of malnourished school going children and thousands of suicides, does Europe care for the Greeks?

Milopoulos 01/09/2015

3. Tsipras alone not a problem

If Euro problem be only the possible "strange" policy of Syriza then of course the senior Brussels official is right.No serious affect on Euro zone.But this policy will not come alone , it will be added to deflation, [...]

If Euro problem be only the possible "strange" policy of Syriza then of course the senior Brussels official is right.No serious affect on Euro zone.But this policy will not come alone , it will be added to deflation, bureaucracy and unlimited control of the economy by the markets.Then case will be serious and Tsipras spirit will be diffused all over Euro zone countries. Maybe this is what Tsipras has in mind when saying the markets will dance on his music.Personally i do not expect this guy to be ever PM of Greece.

douglas.aitken.52 01/29/2015

4. Nazi Germany

If the Germans paid their war debt to Greece (about 200 billion), Greece wouldn't have a debt. The hypocrisy of Germany is staggering when they don't pay debts now 70 years old. Greece shouldn't pay a penny.

If the Germans paid their war debt to Greece (about 200 billion), Greece wouldn't have a debt. The hypocrisy of Germany is staggering when they don't pay debts now 70 years old. Greece shouldn't pay a penny.

peter_martin_2001 02/09/2015

5. A tough choice

It was a tough choice voting for Alexis. I knew I really should have had more consideration for you Germans and voted more responsibly.
The choice was 5 more years of the kids begging in the streets if we voted New Democracy [...]

It was a tough choice voting for Alexis. I knew I really should have had more consideration for you Germans and voted more responsibly.
The choice was 5 more years of the kids begging in the streets if we voted New Democracy or, with Syriza, possibly seeing them back in school again, and even my wife and I getting our old jobs back. I can understand why so many thought we would stick with the austerity that we knew!
We know it is highly irresponsible for us both to want to have jobs, and pay the rent and maybe see our local hospital re-open. But that is the Greeks for you! Always choosing the selfish option!